The modern communications era has brought about a tremendous expansion of wireline and wireless networks. Computer networks, television networks, and telephony networks are experiencing an unprecedented technological expansion, fueled by consumer demand. Wireless and mobile networking technologies have addressed related consumer demands, while providing more flexibility and immediacy of information transfer.
Current and future networking technologies continue to facilitate ease of information transfer and convenience to users. One area in which there is a demand to increase the ease of information transfer and convenience to users relates to the utilization of positioning information now provided via many conventional mobile terminals. Positioning information can be used in various applications to identify the location of a mobile terminal. Further, as mobile terminals become increasingly integrated into daily activities, owners of mobiles terminals are rarely separated from them. As such, the positioning information provided by the device can be used to reliably locate the owner of the device.
Accordingly, many conventional applications are being implemented that utilize positioning information of mobile devices. Additionally, positioning information, not only associated with mobile terminals but more generally, has found increasing utilization in Augmented Reality (AR) applications. AR applications are generally thought of as the combination of real world data with computer generated data in a single medium. With the increasing availability of positioning information associated with mobile terminals, AR applications can be developed utilizing the positioning information.
As such, modern mobile devices hold the promise of making AR applications practical and universal. First, current mobile devices can be equipped with broadband wireless connectivity giving their users fast access to various information anywhere and anytime. Second, the need for AR is at its highest in a mobile setting. Third, the physical location of the device can be accurately estimated, through a number of means including GPS and cell tower location triangulation. These features make mobile devices an ideal platform for implementing and deploying AR applications.
Accordingly, it may be advantageous to provide applications that use positioning information provided by mobile terminals. In particular, it may be advantageous to utilize functionality provided on mobile terminals to combine real world data, such as positioning information, with computer generated data to implement AR applications.